The Peace Corps offered him, he said, a combination of both service and adventure. It's an adventure he very nearly didn't have. A degree from Auburn University led to a good job here in Huntsville with Adtran. Very shortly, he was paying for a car, a house, contemplating a serious romantic relationship. One day it hit him that if he didn't investigate the Peace Corps, an idea he'd had for years, he would be drawn into an inescapable orbit of job-marriage-kids. "One day I realized that if I didn't leave now, it was not going to happen," McMahan said. "In retrospect, it was probably the best decision I ever made."

His time in Africa has taught him a lot. Never again, he said, will he take clean water flowing out of a tap for granted. Never again will he take free high schools for granted or health care he can access because of insurance. And never again will he look at his own country in the same way, he said. "When I tell my neighbors that in the United States you can live in an apartment and not know your neighbors, they say, 'How can that happen?'" McMahan said. "In Kenya, people look out for each other. It's a very community-based culture." Working with the people of the Kakamega District in Western Kenya, he said, has reminded him of what really matters. "In this country (the U.S.), we've reached the point where we define a lot of who we are through our material possessions," McMahan said. "In Kenya, they don't have so much materially, but they are very strong spiritually."

He's embarrassed now to admit it, but Joseph McMahan had hoped, at least every now and then, a herd of elephants might step through the yard of his little house near a rainforest in western Kenya.

McMahan knows the "Lion King" stereotype many Americans have of Africa isn't accurate. He knows most African people have given up traditional cultural life except for festivals.

But no elephants? Not even a monkey or two?

"It's completely not like that," McMahan said last week during a two-week furlough at his parents' Huntsville home. "Where I live in Kenya is fairly developed with little towns and cities all over. And the people are very well educated. They know more about American politics than I do."

McMahan is serving a two-year Peace Corps assignment. He works as an educator and marketer for the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. No one "works" for the Peace Corps, he explained. This U.S . government's international program offers training, health care and support for volunteers who are then assigned to non-profit organizations with programs in developing countries around the world.

McMahan works with the Kakamega Farmer Field School Network to offer resources on growing crops, developing cash crops and connecting farmers with corporations who will buy those crops.

While most farmers can grow the food they need to survive, he said, they need a way to raise cash to pay for their children's high school education and health care.

In his "off" time, McMahan has started two projects on his own, one to get grants to help a network of women growing chickens for eggs and meat, the other to get wheelchairs for the handicapped people he sees in his village dragging themselves along in the dust.

"It breaks your heart to see that," McMahan said. "Some use potholders to protect their hands."

McMahan said he is thriving on the work. Ever since mission trips as a teen with groups from St. Thomas Episcopal church, he's felt drawn to the joy of doing work that mattered with people who needed help. Ever since a post-college European back-packing trip, he's felt lured to places different from his home town.

The Peace Corps offered him, he said, a combination of both service and adventure.

It's an adventure he very nearly didn't have.

A degree from Auburn University led to a good job here in Huntsville with Adtran. Very shortly, he was paying for a car, a house, contemplating a serious romantic relationship. One day it hit him that if he didn't investigate the Peace Corps, an idea he'd had for years, he would be drawn into an inescapable orbit of job-marriage-kids.

"One day I realized that if I didn't leave now, it was not going to happen," McMahan said. "In retrospect, it was probably the best decision I ever made."

His time in Africa has taught him a lot. Never again, he said, will he take clean water flowing out of a tap for granted. Never again will he take free high schools for granted or health care he can access because of insurance.

And never again will he look at his own country in the same way, he said. "When I tell my neighbors that in the United States you can live in an apartment and not know your neighbors, they say, 'How can that happen?'" McMahan said. "In Kenya, people look out for each other. It's a very community-based culture."

Working with the people of the Kakamega District in Western Kenya, he said, has reminded him of what really matters.

"In this country (the U.S.), we've reached the point where we define a lot of who we are through our material possessions," McMahan said. "In Kenya, they don't have so much materially, but they are very strong spiritually."

Kenya, which is predominantly Christian, has one of the world's largest concentrations of Quakers according to the CIA's World Fact Book. It might be a result of that peaceful religion, or perhaps a natural development of the Kenyans' own personalities, but McMahan has noticed something else he wishes the world could learn from the Kenyans: Peaceful co-habitation with diverse types of people.

"In Kenya, you have more than 40 individual traditional cultures, each with its own language and traditions in a country whose borders were arbitrarily drawn by the British," he said. "The fact that they have been able to co-exist peacefully despite their differences * I think that's kind of unique."

Ron Tschetter in Morocco and JordanOn his first official trip since being confirmed as Peace Corps Director, Ron Tschetter (shown at left with PCV Tia Tucker) is on a ten day trip to Morocco and Jordan. Traveling with his wife (Both are RPCVs.), Tschetter met with volunteers in Morocco working in environment, youth development, health, and small business development. He began his trip to Jordan by meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah II and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah and discussed expanding the program there in the near future.

Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace CorpsSenator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.

He served with honorOne year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

Peace Corps' Screening and Medical ClearanceThe purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

The Peace Corps is "fashionable" againThe LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

PCOL readership increases 100%Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

History of the Peace CorpsPCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

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Story Source: Huntsville Times

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Kenya

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